Fryer's Towing Service employees told deputies that Edward Miller was angry and had threatened them.
Miller, 52, was there with his son to retrieve the younger man's pickup, which had been towed after a DUI stop.

According to authorities, Deputy Joel Hernandez approached the senior Miller as he was sitting in his Jeep Cherokee. He knocked on the passenger window and tried to get Miller to roll it down. Hernandez eventually opened the passenger door.

Seeing Miller's right hand in his pocket, he ordered him to show his hands. When he did not, Deputy Hernandez drew his weapon and repeated the order. Miller responded by pulling a .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver out of his waistband.
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Hernandez fired four rounds, striking Miller each time and killing him.

Miller's son said that his father was deaf. He believed that Hernandez did not properly identify himself because he didn't hold up his badge to the car's window.

Hernandez, who had been involved in a fatal shooting the year before, was wearing plain clothes and had his badge clipped to his belt.

Deputy Matthew Andrake said that Hernandez had verbally identified himself when he walked up to the truck.